Home from Home 1

You travel 12,000 miles from home and find it’s just the same. At least that’s what the early settlers seemed intent on ensuring. Not only did they chose a country with a similar climate as the one they left, and able to grow similar crops, they then decided to introduce species from back home to complete the conversion.

So, besides the Sheep and Cow, which made economic sense, they also brought the Mallard Duck, the Song Thrush, the Magpie and later the Stoat in a crazy plan to try to get rid of the previously introduced Rabbit and Rat.  They even paid someone in England to breed up a batch of stoats, load them onto a ship and bring them over. A sort of early ‘assisted passage scheme’.

But it all proved a big mistake. The Stoat didn’t stop when the rabbits got scarce. It discovered a liking for local birds, which couldn’t cope with the aggressive newcomer. Rather belatedly the authorities have begun programmes to try to eliminate the foreign interlopers. Unfortunately this effort does not extend to the Sandfly, which is where I would start.

Native birds undet threat - the Kea

The Fernbird

For this one it's too late - the Moa (on the right)